Commissioner Gordon stood next to the bat signal smoking a cigarette while anxiously rocking on his heels. Wayne approached him in darkness and only spoke once he was certain the commissioner had come alone. "You want to know about the mob killings?" Wayne asked calmly.

Jim Gordon gasped at the unexpected sound of his voice flinching slightly while reaching for his pistol. "Yes, are we looking at a new crime boss in town?"

"It was Bruce Wayne." Wayne calmly explained.

"Come again?" Jim Gordon looked as if he had just heard something impossible.

"Bruce Wayne had the Gotham Underworld eliminated all at once using mercenaries, and assassins," Wayne spoke softly.

Jim Gordon looked confused, "Why would he do that? No, more importantly, how would you even come to guess at that?"

Wayne walked into the light and switched off the signal, "I know that because I am Bruce Wayne. As for why I am choosing that path now, I have failed as Gotham's Steward. Instead of using my fortune and power to build a better Gotham I have been wasting my time and effort at the very lowest level punching criminals and solving mysteries."

Jim Gordon was stunned as he stood there with his mouth open. His cigarette fell off his lip and hit the ground. "I don't understand."

Wayne pulled back his Batman mask until the face of Bruce Wayne was visible. He stood there for a while and then replaced the mask and said calmly, "I am going to gentrify Gotham City and those men stood in the way. The corrupt officials, policemen, and civil servants were left alone, not because they are clean, but because they were only a symptom of Gotham's poor infrastructure."

"Mr. Wayne... I'm afraid that I'm going to have to arrest you based on what you are saying..." Jim looked conflicted.

Wayne shook his head and then said, "You won't be able to make a case, I have seen to it. I am doing you the favor of telling you in person because in the coming weeks and months things are going to be changing at a visible pace. I am still going to stop the threats the police can't and aren't equipped to handle but there will be violent reactions to this change. The people at the bottom will see this change as an attack on them until they get their hand up, and I will be giving them a hand up."

"You killed so many people, the Joker, the Penguin, Sal Maroni, Carmine Falcone their organizations." Jim Gordon looked much older as he walked in a circle.

"Yes, in times of war, people die. I wasn't the one who started this war, but I am the one who finished it." Wayne stated calmly.

"You never killed before, why now, what was different?" Jim Gordon stopped walking and stared at Wayne.

"My parents were murdered in front of my eyes by Joe Chill when I was eight years old. I vowed at the time to wage a lifelong war against criminals. My eight-year-old mind thought only of seeking vengeance with my fists. Recently after another of my near-death experiences punching criminals my godmother spoke to me about noblesse oblige. If you aren't familiar with the term, it means essentially using my family's wealth for the good of the people. I don't know if you know just how much I make per year, but let me put it in perspective for you. Gotham City's annual budget is 75 billion, my family's business's yearly revenue is 500 billion."

Jim Gordon closed his eyes and then shook his head at the numbers, "But... Why?"

"It cost me 500 million to hire the men needed for today's ruckus. Now they are gone. In one day, I did what the city could not, no, would not do in the last twenty years. You might be thinking there is a vacuum and someone else will just come in and fill that void, well I can assure you that won't be happening."

Jim looked defeated, "You can't just murder them forever, it's evil!"

"Good and evil are terms used by normal people who have the distance from the real problems of the world to speak from safety. Do you know what the safest city in the world is? It's not Metropolis, with a Superman guarding it. It's not Gotham City with a Batman guarding it. It's not New York, Los Angeles, or Chicago. It's Copenhagen, Denmark. A city with legal prostitution, tough drug laws for hard drugs, and openly sold marijuana. Tough laws for drinking and driving and tough gun laws."

"People who live in Gotham City don't care about Gotham City. That's why they can walk right past trash on the ground without picking it up. That's why they can step over a dead or dying body without checking on it." Wayne looked out over the city, "You may think me monstrous for what I have done, what I am about to do, but I swear to you... I will give you a Gotham City these people can be proud of, where people like your children can grow up to be something other than warriors like us."

Jim Gordon shook his head, "It goes against everything I was taught to believe in, I want to trust you. I want to, but I am afraid you are crossing a line that leads to tyranny."

Jim Gordon looked back at where Wayne had been standing and noticed he was alone again. "Fuck! I hate when he does that."

March 30, 2022

I am having a harder and harder time with who I am. Am I Wayne Bruce or am I, Bruce Wayne? I remember being both men and yet at times, I am both, neither or one of them. Wayne Bruce wouldn't care so much about this city, he was happy just to see Madison at work, read books and watch movies. Bruce Wayne was happy to feed his obsession and routines. I find myself wanting to solve this problem I have been given. Are Alfred and Jim right? Am I heading down the path of tyranny? What they don't know is that I have seen this world from afar, I have seen the many Batman stories progress to the point where Bruce is forced to sacrifice himself for no good gain. Gotham is the backdrop for a gritty soap opera.

I want to see Madison again, no here she is called Julie. She looks the same, sounds the same, smells just as nice. Do we have anything in common? Wayne Bruce would never call her and ask her on a date, but Bruce Wayne is rich and handsome. There are no excuses that will fly. I will have to do it. Soon. No, now. Tonight.

Wayne put down his pen and journal he reached over and picked up his cell phone and pressed her contact. The phone rang five times. Wayne considered ending the call just when her voice spoke out, "H-hello?"

"Ms. Madison, Bruce Wayne. I hope I am not disturbing you too late?"

There was a slight pause and then she responded, "No, actually I was hoping you would call."

Wayne smiled and then leaned forward, "I was wondering if you might be available tomorrow night? Dinner and movie?"

Again there was a pause, Wayne thought he heard another woman whispering with Julie before she came on obviously trying to sound much calmer than she was, "Yes, um, let's see... Tomorrow, tomorrow. I think I might have some time, yes."

Wayne chuckled, "Then I'll come to get you at eight."

"Wait, wait, how should I dress?"

Wayne smiled, "The dress you wore the other night was a loaner, right? I'll have Lucius send you one of your own. They'll take care of your hair and makeup as well. Julie, what kind of movies do you like?"

"Uh... Honestly? You have to promise not to laugh..."

Wayne thought about how Madison would answer, "Don't tell me, old 80s movies?"

"How did... Wait, you have like a file on me don't you?"

Wayne remembered talking with Madison about her favorite movies and trading movie quotes from their favorite movies at work when they were together at the front of the store. "No, but that's my favorite and I believe it's been in a couple of the magazine articles about me..."

The phone went silent and then he could hear rapid-fire whispering, she came back and then said, "I'm sorry, let me try that again, yes! Yes, I love old 80s movies!"

Wayne smiled and then said, "I know a great restaurant right by a theater that has a showing of Better off dead, what do you say?"

"Two dollars!"

Wayne started doing a terrible Howard Cosell impression, "Truly a sight to behold. A man beaten. The once-great champ, is now, a study in moppishness. No longer the victory-hungry stallion we’ve raced so many times before, but a pathetic, washed up, aged ex-champion."

Julie squealed and then said, "Oh my god, yes! Remember that mom making that French girl all those foods like French Fries and French Bread to make her feel more at home!"

Wayne chuckled and then replied, "Remember when she told Ricky to keep his testicles off her?"

They both laughed and then Julie spoke in a French accent, "I figured if we had nothing to say to each other he would get bored. Go away. But instead, he uses it as an excuse to put his testicles all over me."

Wayne laughed hard they both laughed until silence hung in the air, "Good, then it's a date."